Adjustable line width writing fountain pen



Jan. 5, 1954 T. w. LEPKOWSKI ADJUSTABLE LINE WIDTH WRITING FOUNTAIN PEN Filed May 6, 1950 IN V EN TOR. HOMAS W LEPKOWSK/ Patented Jan. 5, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE LINE WIDTH WRITING FOUNTAIN PEN This invention relates to fountain pens, and more particularly, to a fountain pen including means for adjusting the width and depth of the line produced by its writing point, a novel writing point, and a novel filling mechanism. The'present application is, in part, a continuation of my copending application Serial No. 92,322, filed May 10, 1949, for Adjustable Line Width Writing Fountain Pen and Method of Manufacturing Novel Pen Point Thereof, which has eventuated in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,567,608.

The fountain pen in accordance with the present invention comprises a member carrying at opposite ends thereof a pen point and an ink sac and filling mechanism therefor connected by an ink passage, which member is mounted within and axially movable with respect to a shell having a barrel at one end, a hood at the other and a selector sleeve intermediate thereof, the pen point, of a resilient metal, being formed so that the writing line produced thereby may be controlled as to the thickness thereof through its co-action with the hood as the member carrying the pen point is axially reciprocated relative to the shell upon actuation of the rotatable sleeve which is operatively associated with said pen point carrying member.

In accordance with the present invention, the pen point may be prepared as outlined in the aforementioned copending application, or alternatively, the same may be produced as follows: The pen point is blanked out flat from a metal sheet of springy material such as stainless steel; a precious metal ball is welded to the writing point thereof, the opposing tapering sides defining the nib divisions thereof are coined to an arcuate conformation at their upper edges; the blank is then bent transversely about a small radius of curvature; the thus-bent blank is slitted through the ball to its pierce hole thereby providing cooperating nib divisions, the juxtaposed edges and, in particular, the slit ball ends of which are in substantial parallelism to one another; the nib di-.

2 movement in the fountain pen shell consisting of a barrel, a guide nipple, a rotatable selector sleeveand a hood. The inner end of this member hasthe open end of the ink sac secured thereto, and the member serves to feed ink from the sac to the ink feed plug extending longitudinally therethrough and leading to the pen point at the outer end thereof. The ink sac is embraced by an elongated U-shaped spring whose arms are trans versely curved to conform substantially to the curvature and the diameter of the ink sac. One end of this spring is fixed relative to the axially movable member and the other end is free. By removing the separable protective cap from the barrel end, the spring may be depressed to collapse substantially the entire length of the sac to expel air by pinching the same along the arcuate zones at opposite sides thereof, so that the sac is completelyfilled upon release of the spring.

An interiorly frusto-conical cam sleeve defining the nib division adjusting hood surrounds the pen point and has its inner surfaces sloping in the same direction as the slopes or tapers of the arcuately coined outer edges of the nib di-. visions. However, the slope angle of the cam sleeve surfaces is greater than that of the taperv the nib divisions are displaced toward each other,-

the faces of the writing ball portions assume a lesser angle of divergence and transverse spacing,

approaching a parallel, juxtaposed position. This action results in producing a finer writing line of the pen point and the converse is true as the nib divisions, in absence of restraint, return to their normal position of maximum separation.

Consequently, relative axial adjustment of the cam sleeve and the pen point varies the width of the writing line.

For a thorough understanding of the invention principles, reference is made to the following detailed description of a typical embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 .is an axial sectional view through a fountain pen embodying the invention, illustrat:

ing the Writing line width adjustment mechanism in one extreme position;

Fig. 2 is a partial axial sectional View illustrating the adjusting mechanism substantially in the opposite extreme position;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the writing line width adjusting mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the pen point blank prior to bending;

Figs. 6 through 8 are elevation views of the nib ends carrying the writing ball sections of the pen point at different adjustments; and

Fig. 9 illustrates an intermediate position of the adjusting mechanism.

Referring to the reference characters in the drawing, and in particular to Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive. the pen point I is formed by blanking a flat metal sheet of springy material such as stainless steel and treating the same in succession as follows: First, a fiat blank, the sidewalls I9, I9 at the forward portion of which define a taper, has applied to the tapered tip end thereof a ball 30 of precious metal, as by welding. Then, the sidewalls I9, I9 along the taper of the blank are coined to an arcuate conformation 90. The blank is then bent transversely about a small radius of curvature and while so maintained is slit from the tapered end thereof up to the pierced 11 hole or heart 95, thereby providing nib divisions I3, I3 having respectively at their ends ball portions I2, I2, the juxtaposed edges of which are in parallelism to one another; the end conformation of the pen point is attained by pressing the nib divisions thereof upwardly to conform to a relatively larger radius of curvature than that of the initial transverse bending, and thereby defining the predetermined maximum degree of separation and angular divergence of the juxtaposed edges of the nib divisions and, in particular, of the ball portions I2, I2 thereof in the form of a wide inverted open-topped V for the widest writing line (see Fig. 6). Figs. '7 and 8 illustrate the relative position of ball sections I2, I2 as the nib divisions are compressed by the axial movement of the member carrying the pen point to attain respectively the medium and fine writing lines.

Pen point I0 is coaxially aligned and mounted within a tubular element generally indicated at 20, the heel I4 of the pen point being set and maintained against angular or rotary displacement relative to the ink channel to be later described, extending longitudinally in said tubular element, by semi-circular bushing in integral with the under part of feed plug I5, which is disposed in a bore 2I extending through element 20 and within a forward tubular extension 22 of element 20, the forward portion of the feed plug I being contoured to cooperate with the pen point, and the rear of which leads to the ink reservoir. The plug I 5 has the usual upwardly sloping body portion IE5 at its forward end and the usual channel I'I extending along its length. Element has an intermediate enlargement 23 on which is formed a radial extension 24 of rectangular cross-section. Extension 24 carries two or more partial threads 25 for a purpose to be described. Rearwardly of enlargement 23, element 20 has a sleeve 26 secured thereon at a first reduced portion thereof, as by force fit.

Sleeve 26 has spot welded thereto one end of an elongated U-shaped spring 30 which longi-.

tudinally embraces the ink sac 3|. The latter ill) has its open end secured over a reduced nipple or the like 21 on element 20, being held by a snap ring compressing the sleeve into an annular recess 23. The two arms 32, 33 of spring 30 are transversely curved to conform to the curvature and diameter of sac 3I when the latter is filled. The end of arm 33 is outwardly bent as at 34 to rest against barrel 35. Pressure of arms 32, 33 toward each other collapses sac 3I to expel air therefrom and release of the arms allows the sac to expand to draw ink thereinto. As substantially the entire length of the sac is collapsed, only one squeeze of spring 30 is needed to fill sac 3 I, and the ink intake is increased compared to the usual pressure bar filling mechanism.

The rear end of element 20 is shaped to provide an angular configuration to its longitudinal axis, the lower elongated portion I8 thereof being arcuately sloped to define a spherical triangle, whereby as the ink supply becomes low, a maximum of ink passes from the ink reservoir onto the surface defined by the spherical angle for de livery to the channel I! when the pen is held vertically.

The arcuate zones 90 of tapered edges I9, IQ of nib divisions I3, I3 of pen point In are embraced by the frusto-conical inner surface portion 40a of a cam sleeve 48 defining the hood. The slope of the inner frusto-conical portion 40a of hood 40 is greater than the taper of the edges I9, I8 of nibs I3, 3 so that, as pen point It is moved outwardly through sleeve or hood 40 by activation of element 20 by the rotation of control sleeve, as will be later described, the frusto-conical inner surface portion 40a of the hood or sleeve 40 engages the arcuate zones 90 of tapered edges I9, I9 of the nib divisions to press the same toward each other and to bring the juxtaposed ball portions I2, I2 into a relative position of less angular slope and transverse distance therebetween than the initial inverted V relationship thereof. the nib divisions and their ball portions expanding apart upon inward relative movement of pen point I0 and consequent release of pressure of the sleeve or hood 40. The arcuate zones 90 extend along tapered edges I9, I9 of the nib divisions [3, I3 for such distance that the angular and transverse displacement of the juxtaposed ball portions and the nib divisions adjacent thereto is effectuated, with that portion of the pen point at the pierce hole providing a fulcrum. Sleeve or hood 40, which is preferably of metal, has an inwardly extending tubular portion 4I engaging and acting as a bearing for extension 22 of element 20.

Sleeve or hood 40 fits tightly within an outer sleeve 42 whose peripheral surface forms a smooth continuation of that of the cam sleeve. Sleeve 42 has a recess 43 in its inner end receiving an extension 44 of a retainer member 45.

The latter has a threaded inner end receivingv the threaded outer end of a second retainer member 46 having an axially directed rectangular slot 41 in its outer end. Slot 4'I slidably receives rectangular radial extension 24 of element 20, the relative depth of the wall of member 45 being substantially equal to the height of extension 24 so that the threads 25 project radially beyond member 46. The interengagement of extension 24 in slot 41 prevents rotation of element 20 while permitting axial movement of the latter, such axial movement being limited by engagement of either end of enlargement 23 with retaining member 45 or 46.

The outer surfaces of members 45 and 46 are recessed to provide bearing seats'for a, selector sleeve 50' havinginte-rnal teeth 5| meshing with teeth 25. Sleeve 50 is rotatable but cannot move axially, being restrained by the retaining' members. Consequently, rotationof'sleeve 50 jefiects axial movement of element 20, and its connected components, relative to cam sleeve 40 to adjust the width of the writing line.

Member 46 has an extension 48 which fits tightly within the inner end of barrel 35. The outer end of barrel has fitted tightly therein a metal nipple 36 which extends beyond barrel 35 and'is threaded to disengageably receive an elongated cap 31 enclosing spring 30 and sac 3!. Cap 31 may be removed to operate spring 30 to fill sac 3 I.

The action of sleeve or hood 40 on pen point I0 is best illustrated by Figs. 6, 7 and 8. Fig. 6 illustrates the position of Fig. l in which sleeve or hood 40 is not in engagement with the tapered edges of pen point 50. In a typical embodiment, in this position, the separation of the upper ends of ball portions l2, I2 is 0.006" and that of the bottom ends is 0.008. In the intermediate position of Figs. 7 and 9, the upper separation is substantially zero and the lower separation is 0.002. In the fine line position of Figs. 2 and 8, the ball portions are substantially in full contact, the upper and lower separations approaching zero. Thus, by rotation of sleeve 50, the Width of the writing line can be changed between the broad position of Fig. 5 and the .fine position of Fig. 8. Suitable graduationscan be provided on sleeve and retainers 45 and/or 46 to facilitate the adjustment. It should be noted that pen point I0 is in the retracted position for broad writing, and in the extended position for fine writing' Only the outer end of sleeve or hood 40 provides the pressure zone for contact with the pen nib divisions.

While the cam surface defined at the forward end of the hood or sleeve 40 provides the" mechanism for application or release of pressure against the longitudinally extending arcuate zones of the tapered sidewalls 9, IQ of the nib divisions l3, l3, as the pen point is being axially displaced in opposing directions by the rotation of selector sleeve 50, the resultant pressure or release of pressure, as the directional axial movement of the pen point is varied, in addition to effectuating the desired change in the-transverse spacing and the angular divergence along the slit of the juxtaposed nib divisions for producing the desired width of writing line, provides for a regulation of the ink flow along both the pen point slit and the ink channel below the pen point. On axial movement of the pen point outwardly to produce the finer writing line, the increase in pressure of the cam surface aforesaid against the nib divisions results in a downward and inward displacement thereof and a decrease in flow of ink, while axial movement inwardly causes a decreased pressure and permitsthe nib divisions to expand upwardly and outwardly to permit a greater flow of ink. I

In order to provide egress of any ink which might be drawn into the nib adjusting sleeve when the pen is refilled, there is provided a drain groove extending longitudinally of the plug 15, such excess ink as it accumulates during filling passing around the pen point l0 within the confines of the frusto-conical inner surface of the nib adjuster until it reaches the groove along which it flows generally back to the ink reservoir.

While a particular embodiment of theginvention has been shown and described in detail to l. A writing pen, comprising a member hav ing disposed at one end thereof a pen point longitudinally slit to provide juxtaposed nib divisions; a shell embracing said member and comprising a hood and a rotatable selector sleeve, operatively associated means on said member and said se'v lector sleeve for axially displacing said member and'the pen point carried thereon relative to said shell as said sleeve is rotated in either direction,

said pen point being formed of resilient metal,

the writing ends of the nib divisions being normallytransversely and angularly spaced apart to form an inverted V, and means on said hood op.- eratively associated with the nib divisions of said pen point for decreasing or permitting the in-j crease of the transverse and angular spacing between the nib divisions of the pen point assaid.

member, is axiallydisplaced, whereby to vary the width of the writing line of said pen point. .2.- A writing pen, comprising a member having disposed at one end thereof a pen point lon-; gitudinally slit to provide juxtaposed nib divisions, the forward outer edges of which are tapered and of arcuate contour, a shell embrac ing said member and comprising ahood and a rotatable selector sleeve, operatively associated means on said member and said selector sleeve for axially displacing said member and the pen point carried thereon relative to said shell as said sleeve is rotated in either direction, said pen point being formed of resilient metal, the writing ends of the nib divisions being normally transversely and angularly spaced apart to form an inverted V, and means on said hood comprising a portion having a frusto-conical surface of slope greater than that of the tapers of the edges of the nib divisions operatively associated with the nib divisions of said pen point for effectuating the application of pressure thereagainst by a cam action, thereby decreasing or permitting the increase of the transverse and angular spacing between the nib divisions of the pen point as said member is axially displaced, whereby to vary the width of the writing line of said pen point.

3. A fountain pen, comprising a member having an ink passage extending longitudinally thereof and having disposed at one end thereof a pen point of resilient material having an inverted V slit longitudinally therein to provide juxtaposed nib divisions and at the other end thereof an ink sac, a shell embracing said member and comprising a hood at one end, a barrel at the other end, and a rotatable selector sleeve intermediate said hood and barrel, operatively associated means on said member and said selector sleeve for axial movement of said member and the pen point carried thereon relative to said shell as said sleeve is rotated in either direction, and means on said hood operatively associated with the pen point for decreasing or permitting the increase of the slit between the nib divisions of the pen point as said member is axially displaced, whereby to vary the width of the writing line of said pen point.

4. A fountain pen, comprising a member having an ink passage extending longitudinally thereof and having disposed at one end thereof a pen point longitudinally slit to providejuxtaposed nib divisions and at the other end thereof an ink sac, a shell embracing said member and comprising a hood at one end, a barrel at the other end, and a rotatable selector sleeve intermediate said hood and barrel, operatively associated means on said member and said selector sleeve for axially displacing said member and the pen point carried thereon relative to said shell as said sleeve is rotated in either direction, said pen point being formed of resilient metal, the writing ends of the nib divisions being normally. transversely and angularly spaced apart to form an inverted V, and means on said hood operatively associated with the nib divisions of said pen point for decreasing or permitting the increase of the transverse and angular spacing between the nib divisions of the pen point as said member is axially displaced, whereby to vary the width of the writing line of said pen point.

5. A fountain pen, comprising a member having disposed at one end thereof a pen point longitudinally slit to provide juxtaposed nib divisions, a shell embracing said member and comprising a hood and a rotatable selector sleeve, operatively associated means on said member and said selector sleeve for axially displacing the member and the pen point carried thereon relative to said shell as said sleeve is rotated in either direction, said pen point being formed of resilient material, and means on said hood operatively associated with the nib divisions of said pen point for decreasing or permitting the increase of the separa- 2' tion of the nib divisions of the pen point as said member is axially displaced, whereby to vary the width of the writing line of said pen point,

6. A fountain pen according to claim 5, wherein the member include an ink passage element extending longitudinally thereof to the pen point and the hood is provided with a frusto-conical inner portion embracing said nib divisions to contact the same as said member is axially displaced, whereby to control the separation of the nib divisions and vary thereby the width of the writing line of said pen point and simultaneously therewith to displace the nib divisions toward and away from the ink passage element to control the supply of ink fed to the nib divisions in accordance with their degree of separation.

THOMAS W. LEPKOWSKI.

T References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 737,697 B01185 Sept. 1, 1903 1,214,072 Reynders Jan. 30, 1917 1,776,645 White Sept. 23, 1930 1,971,525 Kaerger Aug. 28, 1934 2,252,907 Winter Aug. 19, 1941 2,336,028 Nichol Dec. 7, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 424,271 France Mar. 9, 1911 

